bluemanc1994 said:
Beating CSKA is a must, which we *should* do at home as long as we don't get complacent, hoping Bayern beat Roma again. That puts us 1 point clear of Roma with 6 to play for. Last night's result now means we have to go to Rome and win and, as I said after the Roma game, it's Napoli all over again. If we turn up to that last game and put in our best performance, we are more than capable of beating Roma comfortably, yet I don't see it. We like to make things unbelievably difficult for ourselves.
Still fancy us to go through. Just.
I still fancy us to go through as well, but its not quite "Napoli all over again", firstly CSKA are far better than Villareal who were beaten 6 times, they are quite capable of beating Roma (judging from both teams performance last night), and we know we can beat Bayern (though maybe not if they are in last nights form).
Bayern v Roma, and City v CSKA, should be both home wins, so that gives us the advantage. If Roma get another hammering in Munich (quite likely), then I can see them losing in Moscow, and certainly dropping points, which would mean us needing a draw in Rome, as our head to head results would be the same, and we would surely have a better goal difference.
Last night was very frustrating, and our second half performance really pissed me off, especially following on from a first half, which was amongst the best we have put in the CL, it simply wasn't good enough, what the cause of it was I don't know, but its something we can't afford at this (or any other) level, and we need to cut it out.
Blaming referees, the cold, a few fans shouting "CSKA", however is just short sighted, the players were to blame, they let their playing level drop, and had we not let them back into the game the late penalty wouldn't have mattered, and it was our own poor performance that allowed them a way back, and that's it in a nutshell. Its gone now, nothing we can do about, but make sure we maximise the points available from now on, and from what I've seen of this squad, I think we will.
Last nights dire 2nd half doesn't alter the fact that we are a team full of the some of the best quality available, and our quality will show through, but its annoying, and bloody frustrating, that we still seem to want to make the task harder than it needs to be. Its little wonder that people express that frustration on here.